Audi's 3-door pocket rocket

The S3 is an expensive but fast hatchback, writes Toby Hagon

09 March 2011

For: superb grip, predictable roadholding, chunky looks, equipment.

Against: an expensive hatchback, mild turbo lag.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5).

Status is everything in the world of prestige and luxury vehicles. It's no secret that, no matter how good a Holden or Hyundai are, marketing departments are going to struggle to sell luxury versions of each against similarly-sized prestige alternatives. Brand image and the badge on the grille mean that much. That's why Toyota invented Lexus 10 years ago.

The body style of a car can also be a big thing for a prestige buyer. A convertible or cabriolet (same thing, different name) oozes credibility. And saloon sounds a lot better than sedan, even though there's absolutely no difference.

So it's almost as if there's some cache missing from Audi's latest sporty effort, the S3. For $69,900, we can't think of a more expensive hatchback and, for many buyers, paying that much for a hatch seems odd, when you can have a coupe for similar money.

That's not to say the S3 is a bad car; it's just that it's up against it from a marketing point of view right from the start.

The S3 is the base model in Audi's line-up of S, or sporty models. It's based on the A3, but comes with a raft of mechanical changes and extra equipment. Now that Audi's making a big deal of the A3 being a five-door (which is dimensionally identical to the three-door), the S3 is the only three-door left in Audi's local line-up.

>From the outside, the S3's styling enhancements make for a far more sporting look. The 17-inch alloy wheels are the start of it all and they're housed in fatter, more muscular wheel arches. But there's also extras, such as fins under the doors, aluminium rear-vision mirrors, dual exhausts and the obligatory rear spoiler. Look closely and you'll notice xenon headlights along with pop-out sprayers that are hidden in the front bumper.

Slip into the comfy Recaro front seats and there's a similar sporty theme. The speedo reads to a rather optimistic 280kmh and the steering wheel houses the trademark "S'' badging. Of course, there's climate control for the air-conditioning and one of the superb Audi Concert stereos, complete with a CD stacker in the boot.

In fact there's not much the S3 misses out on. As well as dual front airbags, there are also side airbags. Anti-lock brakes are naturally part of a decent braking system and just about everything is electrically controlled.

The S3 comes only with a manual transmission, again an emphasis of the car's sportiness, but it has six gears. And it's a reasonably sweet shifter, too.

The S3's engine is yet another variation - we can count at least three others off-hand - of Audi's 1.8-litre 20-valve four-cylinder engine. There are two intercoolers, which help make it a potent 1.8-litre engine. There's a more than reasonable 154 kilowatts (kW) of power. But it's the punchy 270 Newton-metres (Nm) of torque, or pulling power, that makes for such strong mid-range urge. And the peak is made all the way from 2100rpm to 5000rpm.

So, in a straight line, the S3 is a lively device, but it's also deceptively quiet and smooth, with just a hint of whistle from the turbo. But once the turbo kicks in, there's no going back. In fact, there's so much grunt down low that it sometimes makes sense to change gears earlier to exploit the torque.

About the only downside is some turbo lag - or a lull in the power - while the turbo spins to its optimum operating speed. It's a little disappointing when the engine is at the bottom of its rev range, making it out of character with the rest of Audi's turbocharged engines, which get on with the job almost straight from idle.

The S3 gets a variation on Audi's quattro four-wheel-drive system, in this case using an electronically-controlled central clutch that splits power between the front and rear wheels. That means the S3 drives through the front wheels most of the time until it needs more grip. So the handling tendency is for front-end push, or understeer, but wheelspin is still not an issue.

Around corners, the S3 is almost foolproof and offers a degree of stability not many cars of the same size can better. The wide tyres grip like glue, too, although they're prone to some "tram-lining'' or mild steering tug, on major roads, where trucks and traffic leave slight dips along the direction of travel.

While the S3 is comfortable enough, its sporty roots flow all the way to the ride, which is firm without being overly so. The cabin's quiet, though, and a relaxing and inviting place to be, with touches such as the aluminium scuff plates near the door jam adding to the ambience. It's also refreshing to see the use of more modern materials inside, rather than the apparently must-have ye-olde-style wood and cream leather.

The S3 has been compared and contrasted to everything from Subaru's pocket-rocket hero, the WRX (which is much less refined), to other prestige cars. But the S3 almost creates a niche for itself, one as the most expensive - and also the best - hatchback on the market.

It's comfortable and classy, but also brisk when you want it to be. However, the S3 is also a reasonably expensive three-door hatch.